


Apogee and Aphelion

by Circeancity



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: (just in case), Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Major Character Injury, Mentioned Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Scars, Spoilers, brief nonsexual nudity, i have no idea how to tag this but, i'm gonna say slight body/eye horror, super powers with drawbacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 01:38:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17458154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Circeancity/pseuds/Circeancity
Summary: Moon drunk monster,beautiful and strange,howl your melancholy questionand tell mewhich you dread morethe echo or the answer.---The tower falls during the battle of Brightmoon, shattering the moonstone and nearly killing Queen Angella. In a desperate attempt to drive off the Horde, Glimmer gains powers she never thought she could weild-- powers her body may not be able to handle.





	Apogee and Aphelion

**Author's Note:**

> the poem in the summary is by @ shmingston on twitter. 
> 
> Yeah so the thought process here is just "Hey, I wonder what would happen if Glimmer used her runestone like Shadow Weaver uses the black garnet" I'm just a big fan of light being just as dangerous as darkness okay?

   Though the Moonstone had been repaired, Brightmoon still went without lights. In the meantime, Glimmer lit up the castle with her own power. Adora found her messing with one such light when she walked into her room. Dizzying shadows and patches of light shifted around the walls seemingly at random as she listlessly tossed the ball of solid magic between her hands and against the wall. 

   “Hey.” Adora called up to the sullen princess, readying herself to jump onto the first floating “step”.

   “How is she?” Glimmer asked, tossing the ball up to the ceiling. It stays still on its highest point, casting an even glow like her own personal sun. 

   “Stable.” They never minced words in the Horde, a habit the citizens of Brightmoon tried to get Adora to pick up so she would “spare the feelings of others.” But Glimmer seemed relieved to get a straight answer. As Adora hopped onto the platform, Glimmer smiled slightly, and held out her hand. 

   In a flash of light, Adora was next to her. She instinctively threw her arms out for balance, smacking the princess on the shoulder. Glimmer just laughed at that. “Jeez, you act surprised every time.”

   “Well, I’m used to you needing to touch me— and falling a bit short of your mark.” Adora elbowed her gingerly in the ribs, trying to keep the mood light.  _ Yeah, light _ , she thought with a twinge of sadness,  _ that’s exactly what we need more of _ . Her eyes poured over Glimmer’s body, searching for any more changes the moonstone might have wrought on her friend. She traded her usual sleeveless cloak for something that would hide her arms more, but Adora could see the ends of iridescent veinlike markings creeping out the top of her turtleneck. They weren’t new, but they seemed...deeper in her unpowered state. 

   Glimmer grabbed her by the jaw and tilted her face up to meet her eyes. Adora fought the urge to look away.  Pale and cloudy as the sky before a storm, her eyes were a reminder that the powers of Light were just as dangerous as Shadow. Adora wondered if she could still see. She knew better than to ask. 

   When she spoke, she squished Adora’s cheeks lightly, a playful gesture to ease some of the tension. “Did they tell you how long it’ll be until she wakes up?” 

   “They’re not sure.” Adora turned to the side, forcing the princess to relax her grip, and kissed the chubby fingers still cupping her cheek. “So you’ve still got time to figure out how you’re gonna explain this.”

   Glimmer groaned, pulling her hand away to rub them both over light-scarred eyes. “I don’t think I  _ can _ . Hey mom, remember when the Horde shattered the moonstone and you almost died? Well, I went and made it worse!”

   “To be fair,” Adora began, wrapping an arm around her, “we only managed to fight them off because you did that, so I wouldn’t say you made things  _ worse _ .” Maybe Glimmer’s memory of the events were different, but as far as Adora— and the rest of Brightmoon it seemed— was concerned, Glimmer was the woman of the hour.

 

* * *

 

   When the tower fell, their chance of victory fell with it. Adora could feel the air leave her body as she watched it. Time slowed down. The only thing that snapped her out of her trance was a Horde soldier coming from behind her— a single swipe of her sword took care of him. Immediately, she tried to find her allies. Bow was retreating, firing arrows into the lines of infantry that took their opportunity to advance. Spinnerella and Netossa were nearly surrounded, keeping their enemies back by any means possible. The other princesses were holding up about as well— but Glimmer was nowhere to be found. 

   Adora looked up, the tanks had started advancing along with the infantry and cavalry, ignoring any Brightmoon soldiers that weren’t already attacking them. They were starting a siege on the castle. She clutched her sword tighter and ran at them, only for something to knock her over. The last thing she saw was her sword sailing just out of arm’s reach. 

   “Give it up already.” Catra purred, oozing pride. She jammed her knee into the center of Adora’s back, forcing her face into the mud with one hand while the other pinned her hands. Catra leaned down and spoke directly into her ear, “I won.” 

   Adora hated the chills that traveled down her back. She tried to wrestle free, but Catra only pressed harder on her head. Adora wanted to say something, to have some kind of comeback, but simply breathing was hard enough from this position. 

   What sounded like canonfire rang through the air, but where Adora expected Catra to gloat some more, there was silence. The hand around her wrists tightened its grip, claws digging into her skin. Catra gasped. 

   Her voice came out tight with panic.“What the hell?” 

   She was no longer talking to Adora, and in seconds the battlefield erupted into chaos again. Adora struggled to push herself up. Catra started yelling at the soldiers around her. “Hey Cadets! Who said you could retreat?” 

   An explosion sounded off uncomfortably close, shaking the ground and forcing Catra to finally get off of her. 

   Adora stood, wiping the grime off her face just enough to see. And what she saw left her too awestruck to even move to safety. As far as she was below, Adora couldn’t see anything save for a pair of incandescent wings soaring over the battlefield. It hurt to stare directly at their owner as she fired beams of pure light down at the Horde. 

   “Queen Angella...” Adora’s voice was barely above a whisper, heavy with reverence. One of the beams split the ground beneath a squad that was too close for comfort and suddenly the spell was broken. Adora was thrust back into reality. She needed to move. She needed her sword back. She needed to help in any way she could. 

   Even the most stubborn Force Captains weren’t stupid. Between She-ra and literal lasers raining from the sky, retreat quickly became their only option. Adora could only hope that Catra was among them. She scanned the retreating crowds for her until they were completely out of eyesight, but had no luck. With a deep sigh, she returned to her normal form. The battle was over, but Brightmoon still needed her help. She couldn’t be distracted.

   The glowing warrior dropped suddenly down to earth, barely managing to catch herself with her new wings as she cried out, panic-stricken, “Has anyone seen my mother?” 

   Adora’s stomach dropped. Everyone around her was silent, eyes wide all in a mix of horror confusion and awe. Glimmer’s eyes were like stars, glowing white-hot and trailing motes of light as she looked around. Her wings began to collapse and fade away behind her into the same dust that appeared when she teleported. Iridescent veins were visible through the tears in her clothing, spreading out from her chest— more specifically from the shard of moonstone that stuck awkwardly out of her skin there. 

   Glimmer took two steps forward before her legs gave out beneath her. Adora rushed to her side, scooping her up before she hit the ground, and began barking orders. 

   “Those of you with medical training, tend to the wounded! Everyone else, locate the queen! Now!” 

   The soldiers snapped to attention. They ran off to obey her orders, leaving Adora alone to wonder what had happened, and what to do next.

 

* * *

 

   Despite her heroics, nobody was sure what to make of the Princess’s..."condition". The unspoken plan of action was to wait until the Queen woke up and consult her. With hundreds of years of wisdom behind her, there was a chance— however slim— that she would know what to do. That was  _ the _ plan, but it Adora knew it wasn’t  _ Glimmer’s _ plan.

   “If you can’t explain this to her, what are you gonna do?” She asked. She tightened her hold on her, as if to say  _ running away isn’t an option _ . 

   “I dunno, you tell me.” Glimmer said flatly, resting her head against Adora’s shoulder. Adora waited for her to elaborate, but she stayed quiet.

   The same part of her that came out in battle—  vicious, power hungry, cold, the person the Horde tried so hard to mold her into— was the only one that had a concrete answer. This power was terrifying. It could stand up to whatever the Horde would throw at them next. She needed to keep it, hone it. The Moonstone was Glimmer’s birthright, so were these powers not hers to use? Adora squashed it down like usual. “Has it gotten any worse?”

   Glimmer shrugged, “I’ve been scared to check.” She looked down, already knowing what the next question would be, and started taking off her cloak. “It doesn’t hurt that much anymore.”

   “That much” wasn’t a helpful comparison. The day after the battle, Glimmer compared the pain to being caught in Shadow Weaver’s trap. It was like the opposite of glitching, she would light up at random and her powers would go haywire, leaving her blinking around the castle as she clutched her chest in pain. Thankfully, that seemed to go away with time. 

   She stopped rolling her shirt up halfway, A blush spreading all across her face, “Uh...just so you know, I can’t exactly wear a bra with this thing poking out of me.”

   Adora stared at her in confusion. An embarrassing amount of seconds later, it clicked. “Oh, right. That’s a problem here. I won’t stare at them or anything.” Her blush was infectious, crawling up Adora’s cheeks at the mere thought of this being inappropriate. A much smarter part of Adora kicked that thought aside. This could not be _ less _ of the right time for that!

   Glimmer didn’t look at Adora as she tossed her shirt away, but she couldn’t stop from glancing down as Adora leaned in to get a better look at the Moonstone shard. It looked as though it had buried itself deeper, forming a ring of scar tissue around its edges. The shard, as well as the veins close to it, pulsed with a dim glow seemingly in time with the princess’s heartbeat. Curious, Adora poked it. Glimmer gasped, sucking air in through her teeth with a hiss. 

   She pulled her hand back immediately. “Sorry.” 

   “It’s fine.” Glimmer held out one of her hands and a small mirror appeared in a flash of sparkles. She studied herself in its reflection. Her clouded eyes were unreadable in their expression, but her mouth pressed into a thin flat line. “That looks bad...” she mumbled.

   Adora shook her head. “Scars only form once things are healed. And it’s not infected from what I can tell.” She was hesitant to say anything else. 

   “I meant, like, in general. I haven’t actually looked at it since the day it happened. Guess I kinda forgot.” The mirror vanished again, sent down to her vanity. Her shirt and cloak appeared between the two of them just as suddenly, and she started redressing.

   A sudden knock at the door startled them both. After a beat of silence, Glimmer spoke up, “Who is it?”

   “Bow.” came the answer through the door. The instant after she heard the name, Glimmer teleported herself in front of the door. She threw it open and greeted her friend with a smile. 

   “Bow, I haven’t seen you in  _ days _ ! I was worried something happened.” She threw her arms around him, awkwardly walking backwards to keep holding him as he entered. 

   “I’m sorry.” He said, pulling her into a bear hug of his own, “They needed all hands on deck to rebuild the tower.” 

   Adora hopped down next to them, landing in a practiced crouch. (She knew it was bad for her knees, but like hell she would waste time going down Glimmer’s “stairs” when there was a group hug begging to happen). She ran to them and attacked Bow from behind, leaving him trapped in his friends’ affection. “We’re just glad you’re okay.” She said.

   “Yeah, same.” Bow sighed. 

   Each of them was hesitant to break the hug, as if as soon as they let go something would drive them apart again. Eventually, Glimmer pulled away first and led them to the window seat so they could actually catch up. 

— 

   Bow sat back against the window, bouncing his leg idly off the side of the couch as he spoke “...So now that the tower’s fixed, it’s all ready for the moonstone once its done fixing you and your mom.” he shot Glimmer a proud look as he finished.

   Her brows furrowed, “Bow, I don’t think  _ more  _ Moonstone energy is going to help me.” She pushed up her sleeve, showing him her markings. His face fell instantly. 

   “Then...what do you think will?”

   “I don’t know, okay!” she shouted, jumping out of her seat. Adora flinched, and then mentally kicked herself for flinching. Glimmer had every right to be angry, she didn’t need to be so  _ defensive _ about it. Adora could practically hear Shadow Weaver’s voice scolding her— wait, Shadow Weaver!

   “This isn’t the first time something like this has happened.” Adora said suddenly, making Glimmer stop in her tracks. “I mean, with the Moonstone it probably  _ is _ . But I know somebody else who did this, and I know there are other people who saw it happen.” 

   “Please tell me you aren’t thinking of going to Shadow Weaver for help.” Glimmer said, folding her arms across her chest (gingerly, so she wouldn’t disturb the shard.)

   Even though thinking about it made her blood run cold, Adora forced out a single laugh at the idea. “No. Never. But before she was Shadow Weaver, she was Light Spinner— I think they might be able to help you in Mystacor.”

   “ _ Mystacor _ ?” Glimmer’s eyes and markings flashed, “Do you want me to give Aunt Casta a heart attack? I can’t let her see me like this, I don’t even want my mother to see me like this!” She clutched her head, eyes shut tight. 

   Bow moved towards her, gently holding out his hand, “I think that might be our best bet. The Sorcerers of Mystacor know all about the Runestones after all.” As soon as he touched her shoulder she vanished in a shower of sparkles, reappearing up on her bed.

   “No. Fuck that. I don’t need more of my family disappointed in me.”

   “Well who else would know how to fix you?” Bow shouted up at her. Again, Adora flinched. She moved back further against the wall. A stinging feeling in her gut told her that she should intervene before they really start fighting. 

   She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Glimmer shot back, “Maybe I don’t need to be fixed, huh? Maybe it’s a good thing I can— y’know— rain  _ lasers _ down on the horde! At least now I don’t have to worry about anyone dying because I was too weak to save them!”

   Adora felt her words like a punch to the gut. Bow took a step back. Silence and tension filled the air, so thick Adora felt like she was choking on it. Was this about Entrapta? Did she still blame herself? Finally, Adora stood. “What do you mean?”

   Glimmer’s head disappeared under her covers, “Nothing. Just— just forget it.”

   “No, what’s wrong?” Bow pressed.

   “I’m tired, okay?” she said, sharp and forced “Can you guys leave me alone so I can get some rest?”

   Adora shook her head “I’m just worried that—”

   She pulled the covers off and glared down at them, eyes and markings as bright as they were during the battle. “I said forget it! Just let me go to sleep.” Tears seemed to well up and evaporate in the corners of her eyes. 

   A flash of light engulfed Adora before she even began to speak, teleporting her into the hallway. She looked to Bow, eyes wide. He went back to the door, but found it locked behind them.

   “Glimmer,” he called out as he wriggled the knob, “We’re not mad at you. We just want to help! Please let us back in...” When no answer came, his shoulders slumped and he turned back to Adora in silent question. He seemed...lost. 

   Adora put a reassuring hand on his shoulder  “Maybe we should give her space for now.”

   He looked at her, then to the door, and sighed heavily. “Maybe.” He started walking down the hall, eager to be anywhere else. “...I’m worried about her. You know how she is, like she’d rather die than admit she might need help sometimes.”

   “I know. But it’s Glimmer, you can’t make her do anything.” she held out her hand and he took it, each holding the other far too tight. “How does it go? You’d, uh, have more luck leading a horse to water?” Gods, she hoped that was right.

   Bow looked at her, one eyebrow raised in question. Nope, not right. Way to mess up during a serious conversa— He laughed suddenly what she  _ meant _ to say clicked on his mind. “No Adora, that’s not how it goes at all.” His grip relaxed as some of the tension faded, “But I get what you mean. We just...have to have faith that whatever she does is the right thing.”

   Adora nodded, though Bow’s take was much more...optimistic than what she had meant. She didn’t want to sit back and watch, but short of going to Mystacor herself— and abandoning the castle while they were still recovering from the battle—there was nothing she could do. More than anything, she wished Queen Angella would wake up soon, before things had a chance to get any worse.


End file.
